..presenting road safety across the UK


road safety news - week commencing 23 December

CPS promises tougher charges for road deaths
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is to take a ‘tougher line’ on cases of death caused by dangerous driving.

A CPS report found that some prosecutors in England and Wales were using the charge of death by careless driving when the more serious charge of death by dangerous driving was more appropriate. The report was published on the same day a poll revealed 70 per cent of Britons think the drink-drive limit should be lowered.

The charity Brake called on the Government to bring the UK into line with the majority of European countries, where the legal limit for driving with alcohol in the blood is less.
Brake, which commissioned the poll on drink driving with insurers Direct Line, urged the Government to reconsider its decision made earlier this year not to lower the drink-drive limit.

In the majority of European countries the limit is 50mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, rather than the 80mg allowed in the UK. In the survey of 3,515 people, more than seven in 10 wanted to see that limit lowered.

Brake says the poll proves the Government is out of step with the public on the issue.

"The vast majority of drivers support the campaign to end deaths and injuries caused by drinking and driving," said Brake chief executive Mary Williams. "However, while people continue to die because of drunk drivers the Government should do more. Reducing the limit would save lives."

More @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2588547.stm
DfT announces decision on motorcyclists’ visors
The Government has decided to retain the current tint level for motorcyclists’ visors. The decision follows an extensive three-month consultation that involved groups who favour a dark tint and others who prefer the current 50 per cent tint to be maintained.

"I have listened to the views of motorcyclists, the large majority of whom were in favour of dark visors which they regard as the best way to reduce glare," said transport minister, David Jamieson. "I have also listened to road safety organisations who have expressed concerns about the safety of other vulnerable road users, given the potential for misuse of dark visors at dusk or at night.

"My decision has not been taken lightly. However, I remain unconvinced that the wearing of dark visors would not present dangers to road safety. I therefore believe that maintaining the status quo with the current level of 50 per cent is the right thing to do."

The Minister called on standards bodies to encourage the development of technical solutions to enable longer-term visor designs to lend themselves equally to both day and night time use.

More @ http://www.dft.gov.uk
BMF slams Labour’s transport policy
Transport minister Alistair Darling’s review of Britain’s transport predicament has completely overlooked the motorbike - a self-pronounced key element of Labour’s own transport policy - says the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF).

The BMF, a member of the Government’s own Advisory Group on Motorcycling (GAGM), says this is yet another instance of Labour breaking its promises.

According to the BMF, Labour’s 1997 `Bike to Basics’ strategy document said: ‘Motorcycling can play a valuable part in the battle against congestion... that is why we intend to place motorcycles at the heart of our plans for a national transport strategy.’ The BMF says that since then little has been done to make this a reality.

The BMF goes on to claim that the latest accident statistics show that motorcycling is safer than cycling, and that with incentives such as nil rate Vehicle Excise Duty and reduced VAT on purchases of commuter machines, more people could be persuaded out of their cars and onto two wheels.

In its 1998 Transport White Paper `A New Deal for Transport’, the Government again saw motorcycles `as part of an integrated transport policy’, recognising `that PTWs have an important contribution to make’, and adding that `any roads policy needs to recognise the special needs of the motorcycling community’. But, despite the setting up of the GAGM three years ago little progress has been made, according to the BMF.

The BMF suggests that any revised plans should set aside a sum to assist and promote PTWs - through parking provision; facilities at motorway service areas and railway stations; priority schemes over other traffic as in bus lane use; and high occupancy vehicle lanes etc.

"Labour’s fine-sounding Strategy Document and subsequent warm words have promised much but delivered little," said BMF spokesman Jeff Stone. "They said that ‘all too frequently the potential benefits of motorcycling have been ignored’. How sad to see them hung by their own petard".

More @ http://www.bmf.co.uk/press/2002/press231.html
Encouraging casualty figures in Avon and Somerset
The number of people killed and injured on the roads of Avon and Somerset fell by more than 12 per cent in the six months following the launch of the region’s safety camera project in April 2002.

Figures just released show a total of 3,148 people were injured in road crashes between March and October this year – 465 less than in the same six months the previous year. The number killed and seriously injured also went down - from 419 to 385 - by just over eight per cent.

"This reduction is encouraging - it is the second successive quarter that the number of crashes and casualties has gone down," said The Avon and Somerset Safety Camera Partnership’s project manager, Dick Bowen. "It is a move in the right direction although the number of collisions on our roads is still extremely high – with an average of 120 people a week being injured in crashes.

"It is too early to pinpoint the exact reasons for the drop. However I am sure the publicity surrounding the launch of the safety camera initiative, both locally and nationally, has made drivers more conscious of their speed and the need to drive at an appropriate speed for the road and weather conditions," he added.

More information about the partnership can be found on its website – www.safecam.org.uk
New approach to young driver offences launched in US
A US police department is pioneering a new approach to dealing with motoring offences committed by young drivers.

As of January 2003, officers with the Lancaster Police Department in Lancaster, South Carolina will be tracking warning tickets issued to teenage drivers. When a teenager gets a warning, a letter will be sent home to their parents informing them of the infraction. The letter will also recommend to the family that they participate in the ‘I Promise’ safe driving initiative for teenagers.

Further information about this initiative can be obtained from Gary Direnfeld, MSW, Executive Director, I Promise Program Inc, gary123@sympatico.ca or from the I Promise website, www.ipromiseprogram.com
SCP service guidelines published
LARSOA and RoSPA have jointly published ‘Guidelines for the management and operation of the School Crossing Patrol Service’. The document has been published in draft format for consultation.

A hard copy of the guidelines can be obtained from Colin Pettener, Shropshire CC’s head of road safety 01743 232475, and an electronic version is available from Kevin Clinton, RoSPA’s head of road safety, kclinton@rospa.com.